CIBJO’s Marketing & Education Commission has released its Special Report which outlines the key issues that it will focus on during the forthcoming CIBJO Congress 2017, scheduled to open in less than nine weeks. 

The report, prepared by Commission Chairperson Jonathan Kendall, focuses on human resource management in the jewellery business, and more specifically discusses recruitment and the methods necessary to maintain and fortify a winning team of employees.

At the Congress, the Commission will be releasing a guide, authored by Mr. Kendall, called People, Our Greatest Asset. It will provide valuable HR management information, as well as a set of related tools, forms and templates. The report says that “People are what make a business successful. They are the lifeblood of any jeweller or jewellery manufacturer. Understanding how to build a winning team and keeping that team motivated is critical to all businesses, and achieving success through the building of a cohesive, friendly and driven crew will improve any company’s results.”

According to CIBJO, the publication, which will be available for downloading from the CIBJO website after the congress, answers a number of questions that any jewellery and gemstone business has to ask itself on a regular basis, such as what creates motivated and contributing employees, how do reward and recognition programmes raise employee motivation, and how can you retain top quality staff?

Other guides are also in the pipeline, CIBJO says, covering issues such as the importance of image in our jewellery world, how to run successful public relations campaigns, how to build superb instore environments, how to develop successful digital strategies, and how to create the highest quality visual merchandising. These will be released in subsequent years.

Another key issue that will also be taken up for discussion at the sessions is CIBJO’s Green Initiative. Launched four years ago, many members have signed up, or are in the process of doing so. At the Congress session, the Commission will present examples of companies who have been through the process, discussing both the costs and the benefits.

The 2017 CIBJO Congress will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, November 5-7, with pre-congress meetings on November 2 and 3, and the World Ruby Forum taking place on November 4.

Hosting the CIBJO Congress 2017 are the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) and the Gem and Jewellery Institute of Thailand (GIT), both of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Thai Ministry of Commerce.